Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep
by Yokai Moon
Summary: Sam gives back the life Lara saved. What more can be said? -Set after Yamatai Character death, rated for a few choice words-


**_I do not own Tomb Raider, except for a copy which I am playing._**

**_Warning: Contains character death_**

This is set after Yamatai and has no connection to my other story. I love Lara and Sam together, but I also like writing stories of the heart wrenching side, so...I apologize in advance for what you are about to read. I actually started crying myself at the end and I wrote the damn thing...maybe I'm just sensitive.

* * *

Sam stared at the little display case that showcased the little café shop's best-selling treat. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other anxiously; she couldn't decide which one to buy for her last day going to the hospital. Lara would be taking up from her coma after today, and she wanted to make sure she had the best cake to eat. Never mind the fact she had been buying Lara's favorite cake for the past few months without thinking about it. The day Sam and the others made it to Japan, everything seemed to go from bad to worse and the media swarming all over Sam the first few weeks did not help the situation. Sam felt her shoulders square when she remembered how the paparazzi tried to sneak into Lara's room and get pictures of the scarred girl on life support. She had never been more disgusted in her life. Luckily, her father managed to get the wild pack of rats to back off.

As she stood in front of the display case, Sam growled at the thought of her father and how he tried to stop her from going to the hospital that day.

He was going to lock her in her room? Laughable. He didn't understand.

No one did. Her mother was more understanding though, at the least.

This was her last, planned trip to the hospital and she wasn't going to miss it. She had scheduled this visit a month ago and her father wasn't going to make her late. He even tried to convince her that it wasn't worth it, that she was more important than Lara. Parents never like the thought of losing their little ones, so he was acting according to his parental instincts...which was fine, but still Sam felt more for Lara than anyone else, even her parents took backseat to the girl who saved her life.

The young woman asked her what she wanted.

Sam pointed to the "_Chocolate Melody_", "One please."

"Sure thing. That will be 780, please." the barista smiled and went to retrieve the desired items, "You want it gift wrapped?"

"That's fine," Sam replied and handed over the Yen.

The young girl handed the package of treats to Sam and took the money, "You know, our regulars are starting to think you come here every day just to talk to me."

Sam went wide eyed for a moment, before a smile split her face, "Let them say what they want."

"But it's totally ruining my chances to meet a nice guy," the nameless girl whined.

"If it helps I'll stop coming then..." Sam offered, "Actually, I won't be coming back after today. My friend is going to be waking up soon so I won't be around here to enjoy your cakes."

The barista looked like she was about to cry, "Aw you were our best regular. Even though you ordered the same thing!"

"It's my friend's favorite," Sam chuckled; her eyes shifted to the hanging cat clock on the wall, "Crap I have to go! Bye, Mika!"

"I'll be seeing you later then, Sam!" Mika called after the girl.

Sam felt the sting behind her eyes as she rushed out the cafe.

If only that was true.

* * *

_6 Hours Later_

Sam turned off the camera and gave it to an aid, who quickly left with it. She took a deep breath to calm her shaking nerves.

"I'm ready," Sam said and slide on the padded table.

Dr. Miyama put a hand on her shoulder, stopping her from laying all the way down, "Are you sure about this? You know you don't have to go through with this right. You might not..."

His gaze left her and he let his sentence hang, unable to bring himself to speak of the consequences. This was his friend's daughter, but this was what she wanted and he was under an oath to respect her wishes.

Sam shifted her gaze over to Lara, who was on top of another table besides her own, then placed her hand over his and gave it a reassuring squeeze, "She saved my life; I want to return the favor."

He saw the determination in her eyes and turned to the other five operators, "We'll proceed as scheduled."

Sam stretched out on the operating table and the doctors swarmed around her; one had placed the mask over her nose and mouth. The sickening sweet smell of bubblegum filled her nose; Sam was not as afraid as she thought she'd be. She thought that maybe she would be, even a little bit, but she wasn't. This was not a desicion that she made lightly; she knew what was going to happen, but she wasn't afraid. Sam was probably scared at the beginning, when she started planning, but that wasn't the case now.

She felt the darkness slowly creep into her mind only after a minute or two, stealing any coherent thoughts. Her body was going numb, but she could still feel the erratic beating of her heart beneath her breast. She managed a smile, drawing confused expressions from the doctors and a single tear slide down her cheek.

"She won't survive this," a woman's voice crept into her ears.

It sounded muffled.

"Please, let's just get on with this," Dr. Miyama ground out.

Sam closed her eyes and inhaled deeply as the voices drifted further and further away.

_Good bye, Lara..._

* * *

_Beep...Beep...Beep_

Lara's eyes slowly fluttered and she flinched at the bright light that shone down on her. Turning her head weakly, Lara tried to shake the haze that her mind was still trapped in. The room was filled with visions of burning bodies, dead bodies, rotting bodies, and she was going to throw up, which she ended up doing when she tried to sit up. She quickly leaned over the side of the bed just in time though. Her hands blindly grasped for something to hold onto and it was pure chance it was the nurse's call button.

Immediately her room soon became flooded with people in white coats and women in short skirts; everyone was talking at once in Japanese and broken English and someone was giving her a pat on the back and someone, by the grace of God, gave her water to get the foul taste of stomach acid out her mouth.

She felt so sick.

"S-Sam?" Lara husked out; her voice was hoarse for having not been used for a long while, "Sam?" she called again through the sea of voices, trying to adjust her sight to find her best friend.

Where was she? Where was Sam? Who were these lunatics that swarmed her like angry bees in a hive?

A hand gently grasped her shoulder and eased her back against the bed, "Go back to bed, Ms. Croft. Everything will be clear when you wake up."

On cue the drowsiness returned and Lara tried to fight it. There was something in that water someone gave her, but she had no strength so she surrendered to the darkness and allowed herself to fall back into a restless sleep.

* * *

_3 Days Later_

It was time.

Dr. Miyama strolled in, clipboard in hand and a television not far behind him. Lara was up, still tired and weary of every person's presence, but he understood why she would be feeling that way. No one had told her anything yet, and it was his job now to answer all her questions. He took a seat next to her bed while two people set up the television next to him. He couldn't meet Lara's eyes when she finally broke the silence.

"Where's Sam?" she asked.

Miyama cleared his throat, "Let's get some things out the way first shall we?"

"Where's Sam?"

"Please, Ms. Croft," Miyama almost begged as he flipped through the papers clipped to his chart, "Just some quick questions."

Lara reluctantly agreed.

He first filled her in on where she was: Tokyo University Medical Center and informed her that she was in a coma for about five months. There was surgery done, expenses paid for by the governor in thanks for discovering Yamatai. Lara didn't care about any of that, but answered basic questions: name, date of birth, social society number, name of her parents, school she was attending, what she last remembered. That last one was tricky because the last minutes on that boat were such a haze, Lara couldn't answer right away. That was fine, Miyama assured her, and continued with the line of questioning until finally...

"Where the fuck is Sam?" Lara growled between clenched teeth.

She was tired of waiting. She needed to know where her friend was and now before she used what she learned on Yamatai to beat the information out of the doctor.

Miyama cleared his throat, "I think it's better...if she told you..."

He stood up and turned on the television, then pushed in a tape. Miyama quickly went to the door and shut it, then turned the lights off. He stayed next to the door. He didn't need Lara seeing his tears.

The television came to life with Sam's smiling face. Lara's eyebrows creased at how sad she looked even with the large grin on her face. She was wearing a hospital gown.

"_Hey there Lara. I bet you have a headache now, what with you just waking up from a five month. Well a long while, but who cares? You're awake and that's all that matters, right?" _"Sam" giggled a little before continuing. She looked sadder now, "_I also bet you're wondering where I am. I...Lara, God, you couldn't imagine what I felt when the doctors told me you were in a coma with no chances of waking up and that you _*a beat* _that some horrible heart disease was killing you. I was going to lose you-"_

"No you weren't going to..." Lara whispered absently. She was a fighter after all. A survivor.

"_-I didn't want to. The doctors gave you surgery and kept you on life support on my father's orders. He wanted you to wake up eventually, so that you could tell your story, your side on Yamatai. Stupidest fucking selfish reason ever, but I didn't want to lose you Lara. Please believe me when I say that you are the most important person in my life, you always were, still are. And I'm sorry."_

Sam began to tear up now and Lara could feel the sting behind her eyes.

Sam wiped her face, "_I'm sorry for following you to that stupid island without better equipment__I'm sorry that I had to get captured by that fucking lunatic and you had to come save me. I'm sorry you're not scarred and will never be a normal human being again. I'm sorry."_

"Oh Sam."

"_You saved my life and because of that you were going to die." _Sam was allowing the tears to fall freely now and she didn't bother to wipe them away, _"So I thought it was time for me to repay you, Lara."_

Lara felt her heart stop, and the fear set in.

"_Dr. Miyama is a family friend, who specializes in transplants. I talked to my mother and father about this. They didn't...they didn't understand why I want to do it, but no one could ever. My father will hate you, but even if I tried to explain with a PowerPoint he still wouldn't understand the lengths you had to go to, to make sure I was okay. You wanted to bring me home safe and sound and you had, Lara; now I'm using the life you saved to save yours."_

_"When the operation is complete, you'll have my heart Lara, and I will have yours."_ Sam places a hand over her heart, _"The doctors say I won't live long enough to see you wake up and that's okay, I accept that as my fate. I know you'll be sad for a while, and you'll hate me; you'll even say I wasted the life you gave me, but remember you gave it to me to do with as I saw fit and I'm using it. I love you, Lara. I love you like how the stars love the sky and __I want you to live Lara; I want you to live and be the best architect you can be and I want you to be the best, badass tomb raider the world has ever known. You have a bright future ahead of you, Ms. Lara Croft, and I'll be with you every step of the way."_

Miyami appears behind Sam_, "We're ready for you Nishimura."_

Sam gives the camera one last smile; a genuine smile that could be seen through her reddened eyes and tear-stained cheeks, _"Good Bye...Lara."_

The camera shuts off and the tape stops, leaving scattered black and white pieces to fly across the screen.

Miyama had been holding his breath the entire time, unsure if it was even save to breathe. He had watched Lara, listened to her respond to the tape as if Sam was there, and he wasn't sure how to approach her. She was crying, but her face was unreadable; Lara had unconsciously clenched onto the front of her gown so hard her knuckles turned white.

Swallowing thickly, Miyama walked over to the opposite side of Lara's bed, "Ms. Croft..."

In that instant, Lara Croft had allowed every barrier she had put up in Yamatai break.

She cried for God to kill her, to rewrite the past so she never went to Yamatai, to bring Sam back. She cried and begged for God to give Sam back, and that she would trade everything she had if he would grant her that one demand, but it wasn't going to happen. Lara asked God he had to be so cruel and take away the only person Lara had in her life, but she would never get an answer for that. Finally, she asked God for something else. She asked if he could give her the strength grant Sam's last request.

To be the greatest tomb raider the world has ever known would take years, but she would fulfill it, and she would do it with Sam, because, as Sam said, she was going to be with her every step of the way.

End


End file.
